jrgatelogs

Thanks for the info. It’s sounds more technical than my knowledge. The thermometer is at the top of the kiln, which is just a shipping container, gets to 54 degrees tops, maybe 35 degrees. I’ll have to see what the temperature at the vents are.

I haven’t! I open the doors for a few minutes each day to let humid air out! I wondered if a industrial dehumidifier would assist and have it run a few stints each day for an hour or two! To test the humidity do you have to purchase a humidity gauge of some sort?

Thanks for that. Which may explain the lower half of the kiln struggles to dry logs as the warm air from the radiator rises also the moist air dropping to the lower half. I’m now running the kilns 24 hours by topping the boiler up around 9pm, so not getting any condensation when the air cools, so hopefully they are constantly drying and should be dry in a few days, though I’m still getting 45% readings in the centre of the logs after 3 days drying.

Yes. There’s 4 fans behind the radiator blowing fresh air in but the vents are at the bottom of the kiln which seems odd as surely the moisture would be better vented out at the top? 🤔

Hi all. Sorry I’m late on this topic. We have a couple of Glen farrow kilns. A flaw I’ve found is the vents at the bottom by the doors, I’d imagine they would be better at the top to release the moisture once it’s circulating in the air, otherwise it will just blow about in the top of the container and as soon as the kilns cool overnight the ceiling is covered with moisture. Even running it 24 hours I can’t see how the moisture can escape. I was wondering about a industrial dehumidifier on a timer to just come on for a couple hours 3/4 times a day to pull out the moisture. At the hottest point we get to 45/50 degrees this time of year, up to 60 in summer. I’m no expert but I imagine if there’s enough heat to get to the centre of the logs, and some way to get the damp out it should dry. i know I’m late to this, so if you have built something could post some info and photos please?

That’s where we fill our 350. It’s a pain to fill where it is. We filled a 20 litre drum with oil then took the 205litre pump to the machine with an adapter to 20mm water pipe to get it in. There’s no breather so if we fill it right up we take the sight glass out to let air out. Careful though when you put the sight glass back in and pump more in as it will pressurise and blow back, so just put a bit at a time in [emoji106]

Can you post some photos of the set up please? In summer I can run the standard set up all night but this time of year it’s a no go

Thanks for that. I think this is what I’m going to have to look at. In my opinion they should of come with a tank as they are impossible to run full time, we weren’t even offered an accumulator as far as I can remember. we did have a issue when someone went past the kiln and knocked the switch off the the kiln fan control, so the fan didn’t come on, the water boiled, and started causing havoc so I slowly drained the water out while the system auto topped up but there was damage to the insulation on the boiler, so drained the system, not fully as it turns out, got a frosty night and a pipe in the radiator burst, so got that to try and work out now too. We have two kilns so still got one working. But that’s another subject. I’ll take a look into what it will cost to add an accumulator. Thanks

A 30,000 litre tank? Was that quite and expensive install? I wrestle with these kilns so much, tops of my ibc cages dry in no time, the bottom never gets dry, the warm air just goes upwards and above them. anyway, I’ll take a look at an accumulator, then will have to look at if we can budget for it. thanks

Hi all. So in the meantime while waiting for the scheme for the small producers, we have to sign up to the current scheme they have in place?

Hi. Just had a read through this topic. Interesting read, these boilers are simple but take a bit of thought to run! Do you manage to keep the kiln running all night? I’m about through the day and can keep on top of the boiler but find unless it’s summer and the boiler isn’t having to work as hard to keep the water temperature up, I struggle to keep the water warm enough for a full night. Thanks

Might try those. I’ve wondered about a dehumidifier before but there’s vents so thought I’d end up pulling moisture from outside more than in. Maybe worth hiring one to try and see how it helps. cheers for the ideas

Hi all I’m new to this forum, I’ve been on a few times and everyone seems really helpful. We have two Glen farrow boilers with kilns. We have run them for a few years now, not constant, just when we have logs to dry. I find the tops of the ibc crates we use to dry are nice and dry within a couple of days, but the lower part of the kiln is cool, and the logs are nowhere near ready. The area between the tops of the cages and the top of the kiln is lovely and warm but it’s useless up there. Does anyone have any tips and tricks! I can get the thermometer reading up to 50 degrees but that must be high up. Also does anyone manage to keep them running all night when the weather is a bit cooler? I imagine drying logs would be far quicker if the radiator kept the logs warm as it surely takes a while to get heat to the centre of the logs. Thanks